The Heart of the Matter
by web of light
Summary: Added moment to Faces. There is never a dull moment in the continuing saga of the Tom and B'Elanna relationship, not even in its early days.


She was sleeping. Tom didn't want to wake her, he just wanted to make sure she was alright. Her breath was light, barely audible. The human B'Elanna was slowly turning back into the B'Elanna he knew.

He had just returned from the memorial service for Durst. No body to shoot into space, just a picture at one end of the cargo bay. Words were spoken by the Captain and Chakotay and some of his friends. Tom added his own account of the man's bravery in the Vidian mines. He knew B'Elanna wanted to attend but the procedure was more draining than the Doctor had anticipated.

He started to turn around to leave when her eyes opened. A moment of confusion crossed her face, then she sat up, giving him her familiar hard stare. "Why are here?" She demanded.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing. I just came from Durst's memorial. It was, nice," He said. His words were inadequate. It had been one of the most moving ceremonies he had attended on Voyager.

Her face softened. Her hands automatically went to her forehead, rubbing over the ridges that had become to form. "I'm sorry I missed it. I wanted to be there."

"I know." He leaned back against the other biobed. Now that she was awake it was as good a time as any to get this thing started. He didn't expect much from this visit, knowing from experience crewmates often bonded during desperate situations and how those feelings often disappeared when life returned to normal. He mentally braced himself for her reaction.

"I wish they had taken me," B'Elanna said. Tom started to protest when he saw fire in her eyes. "I'd like to see them try and steal my organs. I'd tear their hearts out!" He couldn't help it but a smile crossed his lips before he could stop it.

Her fiery eyes turned on Tom. "You think that's funny?"

"No. Of course not." He shouldn't be smiling but he couldn't help it, "I was thinking that it's good to have you back."

"You mean back on Voyager…"

"I mean to have you back, back to being you again. I've missed you." She wouldn't believe him.

"Nice try Paris." She lay back down, her eyes firmly focused on the ceiling.

"I mean it B'Elanna. I know you might have wanted to stay human but the truth is, I like you better this way." His attempts might all be in vain but he had to try.

She said nothing, her hands twitching at her blankets. "I want to forget what happened down there."

"I understand. So, do we go back to where we were? I know you don't like me, right now you want me to go away, but the thing is…"

"What?" How could one person expel so much force with just one word?

"I like you." There. He had said it. He had seen her at her best and worst, coming face to face with the heart of her conflict. With this new knowledge, there was no way he could hold any of her past behavior against her.

She sat up again. "Stop it Paris. I'm not going to be another…"

"I don't mean it like that," he interrupted. Of course, she would think he was talking nonsense "I mean that I genuinely like you now. You're free to continue to hate me and throw insults at me whenever you like, but..."

"Why?" She asked. "Just because we were forced to spend time together in that mine doesn't mean anything has changed..."

"Something has changed. Me. I've decided there is no reason why we can't be friends."

She stared hard at him, looking more Klingon than ever. She laughed. "Is this how you normally work it?"

"I'm not working anything B'Elanna. I'm just offering to be friends."

"Have you ever been _friends_ with a woman before?" He couldn't blame her for that one.

"I knew you were going there. The answer is yes." She could be exasperating at times. Why was he doing this again?

"I'm not interested in being friends with you so you're wasting your time!" She lay back down this time pulling the blankets over her head.

"Ok."

"Stop agreeing with me damn it!" She snapped. The blankets came off.

"Why are you afraid of this? After what we went through…" the volume of his own voice was starting to rise. He really shouldn't be yelling at an invalid.

" _I am not afraid!_ " she shouted. Damn. The Doctor was going to activate himself any minute and throw him out.

"So what's the problem? Everyone else seems to have forgiven me for everything, moved on. Why not you?" He wasn't good at keeping his voice down. There was something about her that made him want to push back.

"I'm tired. Go away!" The anger was real.

"I'll go if that's what you really want but you should know nothing is going to change my mind. As far as I'm concerned, we're friends!" His voice raised on its own. He had no control over it. He started out the door convincing himself that he had at least tried to get his point across. Someday, in some other extreme situation when they had time for a heart to heart, he would explain everything to her. She would learn all about the moment when he saw the real her. She wasn't ready to hear it now and in all honesty, he wasn't ready to say it out loud.

"OK! Have it your way!" Her voice was loud and sharp. He stopped halfway to the door and turned back around. She was sitting up again.

"What did you say?" he asked. His voice had gone back to normal.

"I said ok. We can be friends," She said, turning her own volume down. She didn't seem happy about her decision. Crossing her arms she began to bite her lower lip.

Maybe something good would come of this visit after all.

"What you said was a bit, unexpected, and I'm used to yelling at you. Old habits and all that." Tom knew this was her way of apologizing. "Thank you for holding things together down there when I was literally falling apart. I'll try to be a little nicer to you in the future. That's no guarantee I'll always be successful, but I will try." She began to look around the room, everywhere but at Tom. He didn't mind. He knew that couldn't have been easy for her to say.

"That's all I ask. See you around B'Elanna."

"See you later... Tom."


End file.
